State v. Christopher M. Devenport

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedMay 23, 2024
Docket2023AP001234-CR
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Christopher M. Devenport (State v. Christopher M. Devenport) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Christopher M. Devenport, (Wis. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS DECISION NOTICE DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. May 23, 2024 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Samuel A. Christensen petition to review an adverse decision by the Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2023AP1234-CR Cir. Ct. No. 2020CF682

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT IV

STATE OF WISCONSIN,

PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,

V.

CHRISTOPHER M. DEVENPORT,

DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.

APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for La Crosse County: ELLIOTT M. LEVINE, Judge. Reversed and cause remanded.

Before Blanchard, Nashold, and Taylor, JJ.

Per curiam opinions may not be cited in any court of this state as precedent

or authority, except for the limited purposes specified in WIS. STAT. RULE 809.23(3).

¶1 PER CURIAM. The State appeals a circuit court order granting Christopher Devenport’s motion to suppress incriminating statements that he made No. 2023AP1234-CR

to a jailer employed by the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Office while Devenport was confined to a jail cell pending a trial on criminal charges. The circuit court concluded that the jailer violated Devenport’s Fifth Amendment right to remain silent when the jailer failed to interrupt Devenport, as soon as Devenport started to give incriminating statements, and inform Devenport that the jailer was going to ask a mental health professional to communicate with him. The court credited the jailer’s testimony, which we conclude can reasonably be interpreted as demonstrating only the following: the jailer passively listened to statements that Devenport spontaneously delivered. Based on this, we further conclude that, under the circumstances, the jailer did not violate Devenport’s rights under the Fifth or Sixth Amendments, as incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment. We also conclude that the statement that he seeks to suppress was given voluntarily under the pertinent constitutional test.1 Accordingly, we reverse.

BACKGROUND

¶2 On September 14, 2020, police arrested Devenport on suspicion of various offenses, and he was booked into the county jail. Four days later, he was charged with 19 crimes, including alleged acts of child sexual assault, physical abuse of a child, and felony domestic violence. Bond was set at $10,000.

¶3 While Devenport was still confined in the jail, on September 25, 2020, he had two interactions with the jailer within the course of about one hour.

1 Neither side develops an argument that any provision in the Wisconsin Constitution is pertinent to this appeal, and therefore, our discussion is limited to the application of the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court and Wisconsin courts.

2 No. 2023AP1234-CR

These two interactions, particularly the second, were the focus of the suppression motion granted by the circuit court.

¶4 What follows are the undisputed facts regarding the interactions, based on the only evidence on that topic that was before the circuit court at the time of its suppression decision: a written statement of the jailer and her deposition in this case.2 The court implicitly credited all of the jailer’s statements and did not find any to be inaccurate.

¶5 As a sheriff’s office employee, the jailer had various responsibilities that involved supporting jail inmates, such as serving food and answering their questions. None of her responsibilities as an inmate support person included investigating allegations of crime or wrongdoing by anyone. She was not a sworn law enforcement officer, nor was she a medical professional with the jail’s mental health unit. Her “job description” did not include asking “guilt-seeking questions.”

¶6 On September 25, 2020, during the first shift, the jailer was working as a “rover.” Rovers make “rounds” through the various blocks of the jail to “check on the well-being of all of our inmate population.” They “serve meals, answer questions, talk to inmates, [and] listen to inmates.”

2 As referenced below, in ruling on the suppression motion, the circuit court relied on the jailer’s statements to establish what happened during the interactions, but the court also made reference to some other items in the record of the case as relevant to its ruling.

Still on the topic of the factual record about the interactions, in Devenport’s motion to suppress, defense counsel quoted one paragraph of text that counsel described as “an unsolicited communication” that counsel had received from Devenport, in which Devenport purported to recount aspects of his interactions with the jailer. But Devenport failed to provide any form of sworn testimony (including failing to testify in the circuit court) and the circuit court appeared to take no notice of the “unsolicited communication.” Therefore we ignore that text.

3 No. 2023AP1234-CR

¶7 At approximately 9:05 a.m., the jailer noticed Devenport sitting on the floor of a cell, holding a towel around his neck and close to his face. He appeared to be particularly upset—more upset than most people who are confined in the jail. He was alone in the cell.

¶8 The jailer asked Devenport if he was okay; he responded that it was the birthday of one of his young relatives. The jailer asked how old the child was; Devenport told the jailer the child’s age. She asked if he was going to call the child that day; he responded that he could not do that because he was subject to a “‘no contact’ with” the child—meaning he had a condition of bail that he have no contact with this child. The jailer asked if there was anything that she could do for him; he responded that he could use a hug; she replied that she could not do that and asked if there was anything else that she could do for him. The jailer asked if Devenport “had anybody that he could talk to, family or friends, somebody besides his attorney.” She asked this because Devenport was upset and talking to someone might help him feel better. He said that the jailer should just say a prayer for him because he had a court appearance that day and he was hoping he would be released from jail. She wished him luck, continued with the round she was on, and completed the round in the ordinary course. The jailer testified that this encounter left her “generally concerned” about Devenport and the possibility that he might harm himself.

¶9 After she finished that round, the jailer was informed by a coworker of something about Devenport that the jailer had not known before: Devenport was facing charges on “pretty significant” offenses, resulting in a relatively high bail amount. This caused the jailer to realize that Devenport was unlikely to be released from jail that day, as he had just told her he hoped to be. In turn, this caused the jailer to be more concerned about Devenport’s “mental wellness” than

4 No. 2023AP1234-CR

she had been during her first encounter with him; she had “genuine concerns for his well-being.”

¶10 The jailer contacted a mental health professional in the jail (“the mental health professional”), requesting that he follow up with Devenport if, as the jailer expected, Devenport was not released from jail that day. The mental health professional requested that the jailer ask Devenport to complete a form requesting a mental health consultation.

¶11 At approximately 9:30 a.m., the jailer conducted another round through Devenport’s block and went to speak with him. They had an interaction that she estimated lasted approximately 20 to 25 minutes, which she described as follows.

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Christopher M. Devenport, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-christopher-m-devenport-wisctapp-2024.